Thousands of asthma patients could be helped by the first drug in a generation
to attack the disease in a new way, early trials suggest.

The drug is the first to relax the airways and reduce inflammation at the same
time, and could eventually become an alternative treatment for many
sufferers, scientists hope.

Four early trials on a total of 79 patients showed improvements in breathing
comparable to those offered by existing drugs for patients with asthma and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), researchers report in The
Lancet Infectious Diseases.